The first season of the new IMSA hybrid Grand Touring Prototype era is done and dusted. It was quite the year, as the competition massively stepped up, and we saw the cream rise to the top. Recall, each car has these specifications for their engine layouts.
Cadillac (including my friends at Action Express), Acura, Porsche, and BMW, all brought their A game from the opening qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway and the battle was on from the get-go. We saw each manufacturer and most of the teams right in contention from the very start and it seemed that in the first half of the year, everyone was out there, winning. Meyer Shank Racing (before their subsequent disqualification and tire conundrum following the Rolex 24), my buddies at Action Express at Sebring, Penske Porsche at Long Beach, Ganassi Racing at Laguna Seca, and subsequently (again after a disqualification and lost appeal from Penske Porsche), BMW at Watkins Glen.
In the first half of the year, I believe it was five different teams with four different cars that won the races, and everyone had an equal slice of the pie. Then, in the second half, we saw a handful of the teams that had won before coming to the fore, particularly MSR Acura and Penske Porsche, while, as we saw at Petit Le Mans, the championship came down to the wire between Wayne Taylor Racing Acura and Action Express Cadillac, with the latter, victorious. The only team really left in the cold was the Wayne Taylor Acura team who are moving to a two-car operation for 2024. I have to put in a plug for the boys at Action Express. I know I will sound biased. But I am glad we won the title in spite of having just the single race win at the Sebring 12 Hours all year.
The second half of the season, after our second place at Watkins Glen, we truly hung in there and persevered through thick and thin on our way to the title. Some of the races were a tilt-a-whirl, a rollercoaster, for our team. But we stayed in the saddle and persevered to the bitter end. The manufacturer parity was interesting as all of the brands tasted the victory champagne this year. The equilibrium of the spec hybrid power systems I think, contributed a lot to that, and it also came down to driver skill and which team had the gumption to go for it. The Porsche 963, Acura ARX-06, BMW M Hybrid, and the second Cadillac V Series R, proved to be worthy competition, but they alas, did not have enough to keep a red Cadillac and it's dynamic duo (and sometimes, trio) of drivers, from climbing to the summit of the mountain. Believe me, Action Express, we had gumption in every single race and thus, we prevailed in the championship.
It has been a thrilling ride in season one of the rebirth of Grand Touring Prototypes. The 2024 season is approaching. Next year, the competition will ramp up tenfold and we are ready for them. Action Express, we will continue doing what we've been doing. Bring it on.
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